In this 2002 commentary for the July/August edition of Food Protection Report, I write about the Federal Meat Inspection Act and USDA’s rule-making process. The commentary, “USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service Should Say What It Means, Mean What It Says–and Say It Clearly,” concludes, “[I]f federal law is going to sweep aside state law, then let it do so solely in the interest of the public health, and not as a way for the meat industry to avoid responsibility for the sale and distribution of unsafe products.”